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Abstract

According to the Space Policy Institute (2002, Bib. section), “Space tourism is the term broadly applied to the concept of paying customers traveling beyond Earth's atmosphere.” Operating reusable launch vehicles (RLVs) might be a first step toward achieving mass space tourism. Thus, the aim of this article is to investigate the potential hurdles and other aspects of importance that must be overcome in order to use RLVs for space tourism flights. The primary ones are social issues (e.g., “Is space tourism ethically acceptable?”), institutional issues (e.g., “Is environmental pollution caused by space tourism more harmful than other emission sources?”), and financial issues (e.g., “Are any potential investors interested in space tourism?”).

Selection Of Key Aspects

Figure 1 shows a selection of the key aspects of space tourism, including hurdles that could be harmful to the successful establishment and enhancement of space tourism activities (Goehlich, 2003). These potential hurdles to commercial space travel should be considered thoroughly by entrepreneurs and politicians before the actual activation of regular services for space tourists.